%%²%%²%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.²%%²%%²²!Main Characters²²[[foldercontrol]]²²[[folder:Michael]]²!!Michael Scofield²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MichaelScofield_885.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"If you think I'm gonna leave my brother behind, you have ''massively'' underestimated me."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/WentworthMiller²²->''"Preparation will only take you so far. After that you got to take a few leaps of faith."''²²The younger brother of Lincoln Burrows and a successful structural engineer. When Lincoln is sentenced to death, Michael purposefully gets himself thrown in prison so he can carry out an elaborate break-out plan. After the break-out, Michael and Lincoln are tracked by the Company and try to expose the truth behind the conspiracy. ²----²* AbusiveParents: When Lincoln's in juvie, Michael is put in care of a very abusive man who keeps him locked up and beats him up until Aldo saves him by killing the man.²* TheAce: He single-handedly engineered an incredibly daring and improbable escape, after all. Even with the inevitable setbacks in the initial break, he's always able to think of a fallback plan, and the other conspirators acknowledge that they couldn't have gotten anywhere without him.²* AgonyOfTheFeet: When he holds steadfast in refusing to tell Abruzzi the location of Otto Fibonacci, the mobster cuts off one of his toes with garden shears.²* ArchEnemy:²** Season 1: Bellick was his main enemy, the greatest antagonist within Fox River whom he had to frequently navigate around.²** Season 2: Alex Mahone was Michael's intellectual equal with an added dose of ruthlessness. They had an interesting cat-and-mouse game going on.²** Season 3: Sammy, Lechero's [[TheStarscream right-hand man]], was a rival to Michael, especially since Lechero was at times a begrudging ally to the latter.²** Season 4: The General himself is Michael's ArchEnemy, when they start interacting face-to-face.²** Resurrection: Poseidon or his real face ([[spoiler:Jacob, the man Sara married and betrayed Michael for, a few years previously]]). ²** Through the entire series, however, T-Bag is Michael's main enemy. As T-Bag puts it, they have a "blood feud".²* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Averted. The amputation of his toe, his response to it, and the medical care rendered are all realistically depicted. He would, however, not be walking around so easily immediately afterward. It would take several weeks for the injury to heal and his body to adapt to the missing toe.²* TheAtoner: Michael gradually grows to feel a tremendous amount of guilt for all the collateral damage he's caused in getting Lincoln out. He especially feels personal responsibility for releasing T-Bag back into the world.²* BadassBookworm: As part of being the 'good brother', Michael studied hard and went to college.²* BaldOfAwesome: He's usually shaved bald, like his brother.²* BatmanGambit: He successfully pulls these off frequently.²* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:Sort of. He ''was'' dying anyway, so he performs a HeroicSacrifice to allow Sara to escape from the prison.]]²* BewareTheNiceOnes: Michael is a pleasant, if slightly quiet, guy to hang around with...but underestimating him as a potential danger won't get you far, as many of the show's villains find out.²* BrainsAndBrawn: The Brains to Lincoln's Brawn.²* BrokenAce: He's handsome, unflappably cool, and an extremely smart and accomplished structural engineer to boot. But he's also an orphan who spent most of his childhood in a series of abusive foster homes, and he's estranged from his troubled brother--the only family he has left--at the start of the series. According to WordOfGod, this is why he's so prone to self-sacrifice: he has very little sense of self-worth, and genuinely cares more about others than about himself.²* ByronicHero: A moody, stoic chessmaster who pits people against each other and plans out every contingency. ²* TheChessmaster: A defining trait of his character is his manipulative abilities. Many characters usually end up doing his bidding by accident. He's actually said to see the world as pieces rather than entire objects, which was diagnosed as low-latent inhibition.²* ChronicHeroSyndrome: It's a diagnosed example of this, as Sara eventually finds out.²* CombatPragmatist: Took a level in this from Mahone.²* CrazyPrepared: He ''never'' goes around without a plan.²* TheDeterminator: Michael's determination and refusal to halt in the face of overwhelming odds is a defining trait of his character.²* DeadlyNosebleed: [[spoiler:In season 4, when he's revealed to have the same hypothalamic hamartoma condition his mother had.]]²* DeadpanSnarker: In a more subtle and constrained way then the likes of T-Bag, but all the same.²* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:He rips a wire apart with his bare hands, getting electrocuted in the process.]]²* FakingTheDead: As of Season 5. ²* GambitRoulette: There's a lot of luck and chance involved in his plan to save his brother. ²* GuileHero: Michael isn't the best fighter in the show, so he escapes situations using his wits. A good example would be when he outsmarts Sammy by [[spoiler:tricking him into using Michael's escape tunnel in SONA. He'd rigged the tunnel to cave in.]]²* GrayEyes: Of the number 2 or number 5 variety. They do lend a certain cold detachment to his personality. ²* TheHeroDies: Apparently dies at the end of season four, but season five shows he was just FakingTheDead.²* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Both times for Sara: first he takes the blame for Kim's death and gets thrown in Sona, and then he ends up being forced to electrocute himself to free her from prison.]]²* HeterosexualLifePartners: Has two: Lincoln and Sucre.²* HonorBeforeReason: He was genuinely willing to throw his life away to rescue Lincoln from Fox River, despite knowing that his plan was an extreme long-shot that easily could have gone wrong. He knew that he couldn't live with himself if he let his brother stay in prison, and that was enough reason to risk everything to free him.²* IcyBlueEyes: His tend to be either this or an even creepier white-gray²* InLoveWithTheMark: Researches Sara in order to get close to her and manipulate her for use in the escape, but ends up developing genuine feelings for her, and even admits to as much at the end of the first season.²* MadnessMantra: During his time in solitary at Fox River it was "I put my blood into this."²* ManipulativeBastard: He may be the hero of the story, but he's not above backstabbing and manipulating for the sake of the ones he loves.²* MrFanservice: He's easy on the eyes, and shirtless scenes where he's using his strategic tattoos definitely doubles as fanservice.²* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he thinks about all the people who lost their lives in order for him to free Linc.²* NervesOfSteel: He doesn't back down and remains firm when confronted with threats from people like Abruzzi and General Krantz.²* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: [[spoiler:After his increasingly hyperbolic survival in every dangerous event, he ends up getting killed by an illness, of all things, at the end of Season 4. Ultimately subverted when it's revealed that he's still alive in Season 5.]]²* NotSoStoic: As the series progresses.²* ParentalAbandonment: His father. It later turns out DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou.²* PrettyBoy: Which even earns him the nickname "Pretty", [[HoYay from T-Bag]].²* TheProtagonist: The story follows his attempts to save his brother. He's on the posters, y'know.²* RedOniBlueOni: The shrewd intellectual blue to Lincoln’s impulsive red.²* TattooAsCharacterType: His detailed full bodied tattoo of structured architecture and religious imagery. The intricacy makes sense for a man who is in complete control, the architecture shows both his background as an engineer and as the ‘architect’ of the plan. The religious imagery of warrior angels plays right into his martyr complex, and concepts of forgiveness and brotherly sacrifice. ²* StarCrossedLovers: As of the second season, with Sara. Due to being on the run, there's not much time for him to drop by (it doesn't help that she's wanted too).²* TheStoic: Seriously this guy only shows any feeling around a handful of people and only then after a few near-death experiences.²* TattooedCrook: The plot hinges on his tattoo of the prison's systems, disguised as architectural tattoos.²* TechnicalPacifist: Generally avoids outright violence, but won't hesitate to let his friends get violent with his enemies, and he frequently blackmails and threatens people with threats of violence.²* TookALevelInBadass: Prior to his decision to break out Lincoln, Michael was an engineer with no combat experience of any kind.²* TroubledButCute: Though he's really a perfectly upstanding citizen, he plays this image up in Fox River to attract Sara. It works.²* XanatosSpeedChess: When his plans end up going in unexpected directions, Michael falls back on this.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Lincoln]]²!!Lincoln "Linc" Burrows²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LincolnBurrows_4690.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"The innocent people in your life, you have to keep them innocent. If that means walking away from them, that's what you gotta do."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/DominicPurcell²²->''"I've never given a damn about what people thought of me. Never. Last couple of days - got to admit, you know... Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth... Lincoln Burrows. I'm going to go down in history with these freaks. [pauses] Bitch of it all is - I didn't do it."''²²The older brother of Michael Scofield, Lincoln is a small-time thug who is wrongfully sentenced to death for the murder of the Vice President's brother. Michael breaks him out of prison, and from then on they work to expose the truth behind the conspiracy. ²----²* AntiHero : Michael goes through a hell of a lot to save him, but Lincoln is a petty criminal and (it's hinted) sometime hit man. As of Season Five (you think he'd learn!) Burrows has returned to his old life of crime. ²* BaldOfAwesome: Like Michael, he's shaved bald.²* BerserkButton: Threatening his little brother or his son LJ is the fastest way to get Lincoln to snap.²* BigGuy: His nickname in prison was ‘Linc the Sink’ as in he’ll come at you with anything but the kitchen sink. Basically while Michael solves problems with planning and manipulation, Lincoln barrels through them with violence and threats at gun point. Amoung the Fox River 8 he is only matched in physical size by C-note, and is notably more hot-headed. ²* BoisterousBruiser: Though he is the biggest toughest guy of the main gang, he tends to be quite a positive and energetic guy when times aren’t too stressful. ²* BreakTheBadass: Pre-series he was a regular street thug. Through the series though he is framed for murder, put on death row, two of his e’s are murdered, his son is framed for murder, and his brother wrecks his own live in order to break him out of prison. Thats season 1. ²* TheBrute: Physically imposing, quick to violence, and generally not likely to fully think things through. Multiple characters refer to him as some variation of Michael’s attack dog. ²* CoolUncle: Implied to have become this for [[spoiler:Michael and Sara's son.]]²%%* ByronicHero²* DealWithTheDevil: In the second half of season 4, when he [[spoiler:agrees to work for The Company in exchange for Michael getting surgery.]]²* {{Frameup}}: He's the victim of one. Note that he actually '''was''' going to kill the guy in question, but the victim was already dead. So he's framed for a crime he intended to commit.²* HairTriggerTemper: Unlike the cool and collected Michael, he's the first to fly off the handle, especially when his son is involved.²%%* HeWhoFightsMonsters²* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Michael. After the fourth season, with Alex as well.²* HotBlooded: Is short tempered and often resorts to slamming people into walls and pulling guns when he doesn’t get his way. ²* KnightInSourArmor: Initially, at least, he was quite skeptical about Michael's plan.²* {{Jerkass}}: Can come across as this to others²* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Can be gruff and standoffish, and pre-series he wasn’t the warmest guy, but nearly everything he does is to keep Michael and LJ safe and happy. ²* TheLancer: To Michael, particularly in seasons 2 and 4.²* MeetCute: He meets Sofia when he threatens her with a gun and steals Whistler's bird book from her. [[spoiler:They [[OfficialCouple end up together]].]]²* NearDeathExperience: Halfway through the first season, he's strapped to the electric chair and was almost sentenced to death, but was saved at the last minute by [[spoiler:the information Aldo delivers to the judge.]]²* NervesOfSteel: Can keep a stoic expression even with a gun pointed at him.²* NotSoDifferent: He and Michael are initially shown to be [[SiblingYinYang as different as night and day]], but both of them are--in their own ways--extremely selfless, and very protective of the people they love. Despite his checkered past, Lincoln was fully willing to donate thousands of dollars to Michael so that he could get an education, and he chose to let Michael believe that it was life insurance from their mother. Michael escape plan is (partly) his way of paying him back for all he's done for him.²* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Sometimes, involuntarily, Purcell fell into this.²* ParentalAbandonment: His father.²* PapaWolf: For LJ.²* PromotionToParent: After his mother dies, he's all that Michael's got left.²* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Michael's blue.²* StarCrossedLovers: With Veronica, in the first season only though.²%%* TragicHero²* TroubledButCute: He had a troubled childhood and was often in and out of both juvie and jail, but many women find him attractive.²* TheUnfavorite: [[spoiler:Christina directly states that Michael was the preferred son, due to being her actual biological son, and Lincoln being adopted. WordOfGod later confirmed this was a lie, but Christina's preference was still real.]]²* YourCheatingHeart: His relationship with Veronica ended because he got Lisa pregnant, implying that he slept with Lisa while he was still dating Veronica.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Veronica]]²!!Veronica Donovan²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VeronicaDonovan_3093.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"You two have the most dysfunctional idea of love I've ever seen. What, he beats you up to keep you off the streets, so you get yourself thrown into Fox River with him? To what... save him?"'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobinTunney²²->''"This is desperation, Michael. You're grabbing at straws. You're in denial."''²²A successful attorney and Lincoln's ex-girlfriend. She works to uncover the conspiracy surrounding Lincoln's imprisonment.²----²* AbortedArc: Her role was supposed to be much bigger, but it's dropped in season 2 when the actress and the producers couldn't think of another plotline for her to follow.²* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Her attraction to Lincoln.²* BrainyBrunette: Very intelligent, as evidenced by being one of the few who figured out the conspiracy.²* [[spoiler: BoomHeadshot: Is killed this way by one of Terrance Steadman's guards.]]²* ChildhoodFriend: Has known Michael and Lincoln for quite a long time.²* {{Determinator}}: Refuses to let go of the conspiracy and is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. [[spoiler:It gets her killed.]]²* DisposableFiance: She has one at the beginning, and quickly breaks up with him due to having feelings for Lincoln.²* HelloAttorney: A competent, attractive attorney.²* InnocentBlueEyes: By far one of the most naive and optimistic characters of the series, with Robin Tunney's wide blue eyes to match. ²* NiceGirl: Kind and understanding, and gentle with Lincoln.²* OhCrap: Her reaction when [[spoiler: she realizes she's about to [[BoomHeadshot be killed]].]]²* RavenHairIvorySkin: Dark-haired and pale.²* [[spoiler: SacrificialLion: Is killed in the first episode of season 2. It really hammers home that even though the brothers are out of prison, things will only get worse from here on out, to them and the people they love.]]²* ShootTheShaggyDog: Her efforts to exonerate Lincoln end up completely pointless and [[spoiler: gets killed without accomplishing anything.]]²* StarCrossedLovers: A do-good, straight-laced attorney to Lincoln's aggressive criminal. Even though they are no longer together, she obviously still cares for him, even though he already has a kid.²* StupidGood: She is trying desperately to expose the company and exonerate Lincoln, but in doing so she often trusts people she shouldn’t, and puts herself into dangerous situations without even realising it. [[spoiler: This eventually results in her death when she waltzes into Terrance Steadman's home with zero backup plan]]. ²* WideEyedIdealist: Truly seems to think that she will be able to exonerate Lincoln through legal channels and media exposure. ²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:L.J.]]²!!Lincoln "LJ" Burrows Jr.²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LJBurrows_9942.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"You think I give a damn about justice? I just want to do to them what they did to me."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Marshall Allman²²->'''Gretchen''': ''"What's so funny?"''²->'''LJ''': ''"You, thinking you can outsmart my uncle."''²²The son of Lincoln Burrows and Lisa Rix. He has a difficult relationship with his parents, but comes to realize the truth after being attacked by company agents.²----²%%* ActionSurvivor²* [[spoiler: BackForTheFinale: Shows up in Mexico for the final few episodes.]] ²%%* BewareTheNiceOnes²* BreakTheCutie: He was just a troubled kid at the start of the show, but then [[spoiler: Kellerman frames him for him mothers murder, and he finds himself on the run with very few people to turn to.]] Season 1 really puts LJ through hell. ²* TheBusCameBack: Is PutOnABus during season two to get him out of the way of both danger and the plot, but returns for season three [[spoiler:after being abducted to force Michael into breaking Whistler out.]]²* ButtMonkey: Seems to constantly be pursued and apprehended.²* DemotedToExtra: On the third season, until he's PutOnABus on the fourth season.²* EarnYourHappyEnding: Same case as his father (see above).²* {{Frameup}}: Both times by Paul Kellerman.²* HeroicBSOD: After the death of [[spoiler: his mother and her boyfriend, and being framed for the crime by Paul.]]²* HotBlooded: Just like his father, he tends to fly off the handle easily.²* InnocentBlueEyes: Is an innocent character in nearly every sense of the world and sports blue eyes as bright as his father's.²* InSeriesNickname: "LJ", which comes from Lincoln Jr. He's nicknamed this by everyone to avoid confusion with his father.²* LikeFatherLikeSon: Shares various traits with his father, referred to a lot in the series.²* MistakenForMurderer: In the first season, he is framed by Paul and Danny for the murder of [[spoiler: his mother Lisa and her boyfriend, both who were killed by them.]]²* MoralityPet: To his dad. LJ is often used as a passing motivation to keep Linc in check when things get tough. ²* NiceGuy: A nice, innocent kid with only AgeAppropriateAngst.²* PutOnABus: Mid season 2 when he and Lincoln meet up with Aldo and his associates, LJ decides to stay with them and get some stability. He is barely seen afterwards, [[TheBusCameBack until season 3.]]²* TagAlongKid: Before he TookALevelInBadass LJ’s story mostly consisted of other people worrying about where he was and if he was in danger while in the middle of vital escape plans. ²* TookALevelInBadass: After a while on the run.²* TraumaCongaLine: First his father kills the Vice President's brother and is put on death row, then it turns out his father was framed, then [[spoiler: his mother and stepfather are killed and he is framed for it. He is then pursued across the country by the man who killed them. He meets up with Veronica, but is then arrested for the murders and attempted murder of the Kellermans. He finally reunites with his father, but they are once again parted due to the company's man hunt.]] Poor kid can’t catch a break. ²* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: He's not forgiving Paul for killing his mother anytime soon.]]²* YouWillKnowWhatToDo: Linc (when he and Michael go to break LJ out) tells him "On the third, look out for Otis Wright." and when LJ goes "huh?" Linc answers [[LampshadeHanging "You'll know what to do"]]. Luckily, LJ did know. Unfortunately, so did Mahone.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Sucre]]²!!Fernando Sucre²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/FernandoSucre_2301.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Welcome to Prisneyland, Fish."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Amaury Nolasco²²->''"Didn't Fox River teach you anything man? 'Cause the same rules apply out here. It doesn't make a difference if you're guilty or innocent. It's who survives."''²²A petty thief and Michael's cellmate. Sucre is deeply devoted to his girlfriend Maricruz Delgado, and eventually joins the break-out crew so he can be with her.²----²* BadassBiker: Gets a bike for some episodes of season 2.²%%* BadassBeard: In the movie.²* BaldOfAwesome: Like his best friend Michael, he's bald for the whole series.²* ButtMonkey: Poor Sucre constantly has to deal with things never going the way he wants, including his HopeSpot where he finally seems to get away on the plane Michael arranged to have, and he spend most of the series trying and failing to reunite with his girlfriend.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* TheDitz: Poor Sucre is not the brightest of sparks in the brain department, but he makes up for it in heart. When he’s Michael's cellmate it has the added benefit of making him the AudienceSurrogate.²* EarnYourHappyEnding: Sucre goes through absolute hell. He's imprisoned, humiliated, beaten up, comes close to death a dozen times, watches close friends die and travels across the United States while chased by the FBI.²* FireForgedFriends: With Brad, after their stay at Sona.²* ForeignLanguageTirade: Whenever he gets too angry he will start yelling in Spanish. Special note to when Hector tells him he's with Maricruz.²* GratuitousSpanish: Frequently says the odd curse or exclamation in Spanish while in stressful situations. ²* HappilyMarried: Eventually, with Maricruz.²* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Michael due to them being cellmates and Michael breaking him out. [[spoiler: In season 5 he even calls Michael his brother.]]²%%* HonorBeforeReason: Numerous times.²* TheLancer: To Michael in season 1, and to Lincoln in season 3.²* LifeOfTheParty: He's the only one of the group dancing at [[spoiler:Michael and Sara's secret wedding.]]²* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: [[spoiler:After Brad's death, he won't forgive anyone who says anything bad about him.]]²* NiceGuy: Probably the most unambiguously kind-hearted character on the show.²* ShipperOnDeck: For Michael/Sara.²* StarCrossedLovers: With Maricruz. The plot ''constantly'' keeps them apart.²* TookALevelInBadass: After breaking out of Fox River.²* TragicHero: Didn't steal much and only did so for Maricruz, but got thrown in Fox River because his cousin wanted to be with her.²* WildCard: He pretends to be this in season two, making off with the money by holding others at gunpoint. The next episode reveals that this was all planned by him and Michael so that they'd have to split the money in fewer portions. Not that they counted on T-Bag switching the bags...²* YankTheDogsChain: His constant attempts to be reunited with Maricruz are thwarted, time and time again.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:T-Bag]]²!!Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TheodoreBagwell_9375.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don't be frightened. Teddy's home."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertKnepper²²->''"I am not the animal you think you see before you. I am the laws of karma all come down wrong."''²²A vicious and highly intelligent white supremacist gang leader serving multiple life sentences. T-Bag manages to worm his way into the break-out team and serves his own purposes, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder frequently changing allegiances]].²----²* AbusiveParents: His father abused him sexually.²* AffablyEvil: With his snappy humour, endearing charisma and quick smile, T-Bag has to be the most likeable paedophilic racist SerialKiller on TV.²* AintTooProudToBeg: When it comes down to it, Teddy's will sell his dignity to survive.²* AnimalMotifs : It's downplayed, but Robert Knepper has stated he based his walk and hairstyle on a rooster. ²* ArchEnemy: He's Michael's main enemy through the entire series. According to T-Bag himself, they have a "blood feud".²* ArtisticLicenseBiology: After suffering the amputation of his left hand, T-Bag would be in absolutely no condition to continue to evade capture, no matter how much of a Determinator he is. The shock and pain would in all probability cause him to go into immediate shock, and the loss of blood would kill him in short order. There's a reason that the traumatic amputation of a hand or a foot, much less an entire arm or leg, is considered an immediate and life-threatening medical emergency.²* AxCrazy: When he loses it, he lapses into 'vicious wounded animal' mode. Hell, he's dangerous to be around in general too just in case he changes his mood.²* AnythingThatMoves: Seriously, be it [[BiTheWay male or female]], young or old, willing or [[PrisonRape not]]...²* BadassGay: Bi, actually, but still counts.²* BadassMoustache: Grows a mustache in the fourth season to assume the role of Cole Pfeiffer, but retains his usual conniving qualities.²* BeardOfEvil: Sports one from time to time.²* BecomingTheMask: As Cole Pfeiffer.²* BerserkButton: Flips out when Bellick brings up his backstory during lockdown.²* BiTheWay: Starts off exploiting male prisoners, but also gets into a relationship with a woman.²* BreakOutCharacter: T-Bag was initially intended to be around for two episodes as a guest star. The character was so popular that he became an AscendedExtra soon.²* ButtMonkey: Not that he doesn't deserve it, but many horrible things happen to him.²* TheCharmer: His silver tongue gets him out of many dangers.²* ChildByRape: He is the result of his father raping his mentally disabled sister.²* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: It'd probably be faster to list the character he ''hasn't'' betrayed so far.²* CombatPragmatist: Part of what makes him so dangerous is his willingness to do what it takes to win.²* DepravedBisexual: Displays violent sexually predatory behaviour towards young vulnerable men in prison, but also kidnaps and attempts to ‘makes lives’ with women in the outside world. ²* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He loves his mother, who is kept in a nursing home. In season 4 the Company uses her wellbeing to blackmail Bagwell into cooperating with them, and in ''Series/BreakoutKings'' he escapes from prison to protect her from several abusive orderlies.²* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Before his imprisonment in Fox River, he started a relationship with Susan, a divorced mother with two children. He genuinely loved them, but it only lasted until she discovered that he was also a vicious, wanted criminal. In season 2, he kidnaps them to force them to be the perfect family together, but when this doesn't work out he lets them go because he couldn't bring himself to hurt them.²* EvenEvilHasStandards: He begs for the lives of Gretchen's daughter and sister despite everything she'd done to him.²** He shows flashes of this throughout the series. In Sona, when a fleeing man is gunned down by the guards, it's notable that T-Bag is the only one of the witnesses who looks away when the guards open fire, it's plain he has no desire to watch. Also in Sona, there are several times during the brutal fights between the prisoners that he either doesn't look or walks away.²* EvilGenius: For his lack of formal education, he's quite an intelligent man, putting his intellect to good use to lead a prison syndicate, among other things.²* {{Fingore}}: Abruzzi hacks off T-Bag's hand in the finale of season 1. He threatens a veterinarian to reattach it, but he willingly detaches it later on when he's faced with a LifeOrLimbDecision.²* FreudianExcuse: His [[BrotherSisterIncest dad raped his down-syndrome sister]], producing T-Bag. Not to mention what stuff he did to his son, which included both physical and sexual abuse.²* GoodFeelsGood: Actually enjoys being a regular office worker as Cole Pfeiffer.²* HandicappedBadass: After [[spoiler:John cuts his left hand.]] He gets patched up for some time, but [[spoiler:his efforts to re-attach fail and he ends up using a prosthetic hand.]]²* HiddenDepths: Despite coming off as a generic white supremacist rapist, he's extremely intelligent, cunning, and resourceful, and was so from a young age.²* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The most prominent case of this was with [[spoiler:Sara]] in season 4.²* ImAHumanitarian: Uh...yeah. Season 4. He didn't enjoy it, though.²* InSeriesNickname: Like most inmates, he gets a nickname in prison: "T-Bag". Over the course of the seasons, however, he begins to go increasingly by 'Teddy'.²* JokerImmunity: Despite being a VillainProtagonist with tons of awful deeds to his name, but he's also one of [[EnsembleDarkhorse the most popular characters in the show]] and thus manages to wriggle out of situations lesser characters could ever dream of surviving so he can stay on the show.²* KavorkaMan: Robert Knepper isn't exactly ugly, but Teddy does manage to seduce others despite being a [[spoiler:one-handed]] fugitive who doesn't exactly have time for showers.²* LargeHam: One of the biggest ones in the series. He devours scenery like a starving Creator/BrianBlessed. The Japanese dub raises this UpToEleven, as he's voiced by Creator/NorioWakamoto there.²* LeanAndMean: Teddy is very thin and sharp-featured, in addition to being one of the series' most dangerous villains.²* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler: Mid-escape he has his hand amputated in a barn. He manages to ice the hand, get it reattached, and is then kidnapped and cuffed to a radiator so he bites out his own stitches and removes his hand to escape.]] ²* ManipulativeBastard: He's good at fooling people into trusting him.²* TheOneThatGotAway: Views his old flame [[ShrinkingViolet Susan]] as this.²* PetTheDog: Has a few moments, though he's usually causing equal grief as he is relief to his victims, such as [[spoiler:deciding to let Susan and her family go... after taking them hostage, as well as letting Gretchen's sister and daughter go against Self's orders... also after keeping them hostage.]]²** NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:When he lets the Bible salesman he suspected of being a Company agent free. Turns out he was right.]]²* PhotographicMemory: Claims to have it, and proves it after eating the map to Westmoreland's money in season two in order to force the brothers to cooperate with him.²* PintsizePowerhouse: A curious example. Though his actor is about 5'10", a wanted poster in the second season identifies T-Bag as being only ''5'5"'' and still manages to beat or kill nearly any opponent in a one-on-one fight.²* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He's openly racist in prison, being the leader of an Aryan Brotherhood type group. As the show progresses, however, he does seem to ditch this attitude possibly because he doesn't need it to survive in prison anymore. He even has a relationship with a Panamanian lady named Carmelita.²* PrisonRape: Did this to Seth (and probably others before him), and attempted it on Tweener.²* RapeAsBackstory: His [[AbusiveParents father]] was abusive both physically and sexually.²* RapeAsDrama: In his backstory he was raped by his father.²* SharpDressedMan: While posing as Cole Pfeiffer in season 4.²* SouthernFriedGenius: With his strong accent and LargeHam tendencies, many underestimate the highly intelligent and quick-witted man that he is.²* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Variously with Michael and others, even other villains, largely due to his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.²* TokenEvilTeammate: Whenever he ends up on Michael's team through EnemyMine circumstances or other, he ends up as this.²* UnwittingPawn: Michael always gets one over on him.²* VillainProtagonist: He's definitely the worst of the Fox River Eight.²* WickedCultured: He appears and often sounds like some redneck hick, but T-Bag is surprisingly well spoken and eloquent. ²** In his childhood his father would make him study the dictionary recite lists of synonyms to impress his friends.²* WildCard: You never entirely know if T-Bag is going to be terrorizing the heroes or helping them.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Abruzzi]]²!!John Abruzzi²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JohnAbruzzi_1936.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Does not a warm handshake feel better than a cold... shank?"'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/PeterStormare²²->''"I kneel only to God. I don't see him here."''²²An infamous mobster who Michael needs to fund parts of the escape. He becomes something of a co-leader of the break-out team with Michael, but begins to lose the mob connections that made him valuable.²----²* AbsenteeActor: Had his throat slit by T-Bag and was in the hospital for six episodes because of Peter Stormare's obligations to shoot some weird Volkswagon commercials.²* TheAtoner: For a short while after he experiences an attack of guilt when his henchman inadvertently kills a young boy.²* [[spoiler:BackForTheDead:]] [[spoiler:Doesn't appear for a while after he splits up with the rest of the fugitives, and dies a few episodes later.]]²* BadassInANiceSuit: After breaking out.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:He goes out guns blazing.]]²* TheDon: He's the leader of a Mafia crew in Chicago. While he has been incarcerated, he still largely commands them from prison.²* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:He is killed a few episodes into Season 2, in a trap laid by Agent Mahone.]]²* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He loves his wife and kids, meeting up with them immediately after escaping.²* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's a mafia don, but killing kids is a big no-no to him and his crew.²* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Dies unflinchingly when he realizes he's in a trap.]]²* FauxAffablyEvil: He clearly tries to be an affable smooth talker, but Abruzzi's demeanour often comes of more predatory and greasy than helpful.²* HappilyMarried: Has a good relationship with his wife. [[spoiler:However, his determination to get revenge against Fibonacci overpowers his love for her and their children.]]²* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Throughout Season 1.²* HeelFaithTurn: : Tries to do right after having a religious conversion in prison, including not killing T-Bag when he has the chance.²* ImportantHaircut: Cuts his hair as soon as he returns to Fox River from Chicago.²* MadeOfIron: He survives his throat being slashed by T-Bag.²* TheMafia: Is a high ranking member of the Italian Mob.²* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Has Veronica followed so that he has leverage over Michael and Lincoln.]]²* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Has a breakdown while being swamped with guilt over his actions, notably the accidental murder of a child by one of his men acting on his orders.²* NearDeathExperience: He experiences one when T-Bag slits his throat. He has to be quickly evacuated to an emergency hospital, where he eventually makes a recovery before he's transferred back to Fox River.²* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Peter Stormare wanted to leave the show, so Abruzzi [[spoiler: was killed off quickly at the beginning of season 2.]]²* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He's the first of the Fox River Eight to die in order to reveal that Mahone is out to kill the fugitives, not capture them.]]²* SharpDressedMan: After escaping.²* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: He slips in and out of about a dozen different accents. Understandably, since he's an Italian-American character played by a Swedish actor. ²* WildCard: He's perfectly willing to betray members of the group to tie up loose ends and has one of his men follow around Veronica for leverage.²* WouldntHurtAChild: He's horrified when his men accidentally shoot T-Bag's cousin's kid nephew. This motivates Abruzzi to let T-Bag live after he tries to kill Bagwell since he considers his grief penance enough, but it only ends up getting Abruzzi a slashed throat.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:C-Note]]²!!Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BenjaminMilesFranklin_4649.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"I served my country and my country served me up."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Rockmund Dunbar²²->''"What's up, [[TermsOfEndangerment snowflake?]]"''²²An expert smuggler and ex-serviceman who joins the break-out team in hopes of seeing his family again.²----²%%* BackForTheFinale²* BadassBeard: From time to time.²%%* BaldOfAwesome²%%* BigGuy²* BigDamnHeroes: When he saves his daughter, a waitress and everyone else at a restaurant from an armed thief.²** [[spoiler: He and Sucre pull this off, saving Michael, Lincoln, Sara, and Sofia from certain death at the hands of General Krantz in "Killing Your Number"]]²* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted - he's the only member of the Fox River Eight to be acquitted of all charges and allowed to live with his family in peace.²%%* ButtMonkey²%%* ChronicHeroSyndrome²* DeadpanSnarker: Most prominently in season 1. He doesn't have time to snark anymore when he's on the run.²* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Mahone is forced by the Company to kill all of the Fox River 8, and after C-Note is caught, Alex sends him a rope and tells him that if he commits suicide, he'd look after his family, otherwise Kacee would go back to jail and Dede to the foster system.]]²* EarnYourHappyEnding: After being separated from his family and nearly forced to kill himself, he's acquitted and given a chance to live in witness protection with his family in return for testifying against Mahone. Subverted in season four when he reveals that Internal Affairs failed to hold up their end of the bargain with Mahone in Panama.²* FriendInTheBlackMarket: The most useful smuggler in Fox River.²* HappilyMarried: To Kacee.²* HeKnowsTooMuch: Why he's kicked out of the army. Fortunately, he keeps his life.²* HiddenDepths: First introduced as a dangerous, threatening criminal, but it's later revealed that he was a loyal and intelligent soldier and a loving husband and father.²* HonorBeforeReason: The reason that gets him kicked out of the army is that he's too honorable to keep silent about the ColdBloodedTorture going on there.²* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: The guards find him just in time to save him.]]²* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Comes across as very intimidating and dangerous, but he is very loyal to his family and he was [[spoiler: once a soldier who was discharged due to his disagreeing with the militaries use of torture on captives.]]²* MeaningfulName: He has the same name as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, who is portraited on the $100 bill, and he obtains items and substances for other Fox River inmates for $100. This earned him the nickname "C-Note".²* OutOfFocus: He's PutOnABus for season 3 and most of season 4.²* PapaWolf: When Westmoreland pokes into his business and asks who Dede is, C-Note states he never wants to hear that name again. Westmoreland immediately knows it's his daughter.²* PutOnABus: Gets immunity and put into witness protection towards the end of season 2 and up until the final episodes, when TheBusCameBack.²* ScaryBlackMan: Plays this up in prison, especially during the race riots, but is really a loving husband and doting father.²* TheScrounger: He can get anything you want for [[MeaningfulName $100.]]²* TheSixthRanger: He's the last person to "invite himself" onto the escape team by threatening to reveal their plan to the guards, and like T-Bag is unaffiliated with anyone else.²%%* TechnicalPacifist²* WouldntHurtAChild: He calls Abruzzi out for holding a hunter's young daughter as hostage for him to drop his gun and give them the keys to his car.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Bellick]]²!!Capt. Bradley "Brad" Bellick²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BradBellick_8768.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"There isn’t any flying under my radar."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/WadeWilliams²²->''"You're in the old man's back pocket, are you? I got news for you fish, he may run this place during the day, but I run it during the night."''²²The corrupt captain of the Fox River correctional officers. After the break-out, he's fired from his position but stays on Michael's trail.²----²* AbortedArc: Maybe not an arc, more of a NoodleIncident, but we never did find out why he was at a 12-step meeting. ²* AntiHero: On the fourth season.²* TheArtifact: Pushes this in season 2 but is definitely this from season 3 onward. He was initially slated to leave the series after season 1, but [[BreakOutCharacter Wade Williams' excellent performance]] [[EnsembleDarkHorse ensured he would stay on]].²* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In the second season, Bellick would not have been in charge of, or even participating in, the manhunt for the fugitives. He's a prison guard, not a law enforcement officer, and has absolutely no authority outside of the prison. The entire manhunt would have been handled by local and state police.²* BadassDecay: Starts off a physically capable, shrewd, and tough bully, but after his HumiliationConga, he becomes almost something of TheHeart to the group and loses most of his tougher qualities.²* BadCopIncompetentCop: In the first two seasons (although [[spoiler: he's fired after the events in the first season finale.)]]²* BreakOutCharacter: Was a rather flat bully character in the first season, but was still popular as a LoveToHate JerkAss and featured was a prominent feature every season [[spoiler:until his death in season four.]]²* BoundAndGagged: During the break out of Fox River.²* TheBully: Goes out of his way to harass and bully inmates, especially Michael, who he takes a particular hatred to to the point of ''stomping on his foot after he gets his toe cut off.''²* ButtMonkey: From Season 2 onwards, but most prominently in season 3, when his extremely low status forces him to pathetically jockey for shoes and ounces of water while others mock and attack him.²* TheCaptain: His position at Fox River.²* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Makes some ''really'' stupid moves, but is also smart enough to be able to track the movements of some of the fugitives, enough to briefly get the money from T-Bag. He's also able to win a fight to the death in Sona with some underhanded and ingenious tricks.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* DirtyCop: Deeply corrupt and doesn't feel bad about it in the least.²* DirtyCoward: Although he recovers from it in a rather magnificent way.²* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome: Voluntarily drowns to save the others. His death deeply affects the remaining members of the team, and they are very insistent on him having a proper funeral]]. ²* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Despite his JerkAss behavior, he genuinely loves his mother, particularly since his father died when he was just a kid.²* EvilIsPetty: Kills off Westmoreland's beloved pet cat just because he won't give up information.²* FireForgedFriends: With Sucre, after their stay at Sona.²* {{Frameup}}: T-Bag frames him twice: the first for the murder of [[spoiler: Roy Geary,]] and the second for the murder of a prostitute in Panama.²* TheHeart: In season four he proves to be the squeamish about violence, is shaken after he helps kill Lincoln kill a mook, and is the only one who criticizes Lincoln for not caring about [[spoiler:Roland's]] death.²* HeelFaceTurn: In season 3, by virtue of also being a prisoner, he ends up wanting to team up with Michael. It comes into full force in season 4 as he is actively part of the team to destory the company.²* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: In season 4 he drowns in order to protect the rest of the team and ensure their plan can succeed.]]²* HiddenDepths: Though he started off looking nothing but a bully guard always one step behind Michael, he was savvy enough to track T-Bag down and assist Mahone, and he saves sincere love for his mother.²* HumiliationConga: After spending the first two seasons being an unequivocal antagonist, he's thrown in Sona for season three, where he's apparently raped, stripped of clothes and shoes, put on latrine duty, mocked and harassed, and denied food and water, leaving him to beg for scraps from former victims T-Bag and Michael, who brush him off.²* InterruptedSuicide: After failing to stop Michael escaping the county, and losing his job as a result, he heads home, with his shotgun tucked into his coat. He goes into his bedroom and prepares to kill himself, before his mother comes to the door and mentions the massive bounties on the Fox River Eight. *Cue Idea Bulb*²* {{Jerkass}}: In the first season. then cue CharacterDevelopment and being incarcerated in Sona, which leads to him falling into JerkWithAHeartOfGold.²* KickTheDog: Numerous times throughout Season 1, especially the part where he killed Westmoreland's pet cat and sent Tweener into the cell of sex criminal Avocado.²* LaserGuidedKarma: After being a total jerkass in season 1, he falls ''hard'' in season 3, where he becomes the ultimate whipping boy and drowns in season 4.²* LovableCoward: He frequently suggests fleeing or abandoning the mission until he becomes a permanent fixture of the team.²* MeanCharacterNiceActor: During interviews, Williams has said that one of his concerns when taking the role was not wanting his daughter to see him portraying such an unlikable character.²* MistakenForMurderer: He's framed twice by T-Bag.²* MommasBoy: Lives with his mother and even asks her to wire him and Geary money when they're chasing Michael. She also meets him in the middle of nowhere to pick him up after he and Sucre leave Sona.²** Subverted when he requests to be placed in Fox River, saying that he wants to be close to his mother, while in reality he's hoping to take advantage of being in the same prisons as his old coworkers and buddies. ²* OhCrap: [[spoiler:When his threatening message to Geary surfaces after the latter's murder.]]²%%* SacrificialLion²** He also has this reaction when he's incarcerated at Fox River, but is told that instead of being placed in protective incarceration, the new Warden has ordered he be placed in the general prison population.²* SixthRanger: After being either antagonist or ButtMonkey for the first seasons, he eventually becomes a member of the team.²* SmugSnake: Spends season one smugly holding his authority over the characters.²* TookALevelInBadass: He only ''seems'' strong in Fox River, where he has power over the intimates. His HumiliationConga in season three strips him to nothing more than a feeble inmate begging for scraps, but by the end of the season he's able to fight his way into regaining a foothold, something that continues into season four.²* TookALevelInKindness: After Sona.²* VillainousCrush: Is attracted to Sara when he first meets her and asks her on a date, though she rebuffs him, something that may have contributed to his hatred of Michael, who Sara is interested in.²* WildCard: In season 2, after [[spoiler: Geary betrays him.]] It lasts until Mahone hires him to find Haywire.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Sara]]²!!Dr. Sara Tancredi²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SaraTancredi_3258.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"I believe in being part of the solution, not the problem."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/SarahWayneCallies²²->''"Michael Scofield, are you asking me to sail off into the sunset with you?"''²²The disgraced daughter of the governor Frank Tancredi and a doctor at Fox River. She quickly develops a connection with Michael, and ends up joining him in exposing the Company.²----²* ActionSurvivor: To the point where she graduates to ActionGirl.²* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She ends up falling for Michael, one of the convicts (although he was a particularely nice one). She even lampshades this with a bit of self-deprecation.²* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Can be quite emotionally cold. In season 1 this is due to professionalism, but later it is a result of torture related PTSD. ²%%* BadassAdorable²* PregnantBadass: In the movie. She is trapped in a womens prison facing frequent violence while in her first or second trimester of pregancy. ²%%* BreakOutCharacter²* BrokenBird: Was once a promising doctor, but drug addiction ruined her career as a regular doctor. When she went to work at Fox River things were looking up until she was involved in the escape, at which point she relapsed and then joined Michael on the run. After that she gets tortured twice, and by season 4 she is very emotionally fragile.²%%* TheChick²* ColdBloodedTorture:²** Paul Kellerman tortures her in the second season to get Michael's location.²** Underwent this again in the third season, this time around by [[AxCrazy Gretchen]]. ²%%* DeadpanSnarker: From time to time.²* DecapitationPresentation: [[spoiler:By Gretchen in the third season, although it was faked.]]²* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Despite being one of the most important characters, she's rather unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of season three as a warning to Lincoln and Michael after they try to free her and LJ. The fact that we don't even see her face due to a body double being used for an absent Callies makes this even more egregious, not to mention that it seems absolutely stupid for her captors to kill her instead of just harming her considering Michael wasn't even close to breaking Whistler out yet.]]²* DrugsAreBad: She was previously a junkie. After a lot of CharacterDevelopment, she affirms this.²* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:All along season 3 after she escapes from Gretchen, who then pretends to have killed her.]]²* FallenPrincess: From the second season onwards.²* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler:Gretchen kills Michelle Taylor, the girl who was helping Sara escape, in front of her and forces her to watch as she dies.]]²* HelloNurse: Is a young and attractive nurse, thus leading to some understandable positive attention from the inmates. [[spoiler:Which comes back hard when the riot breaks out and a mob of prisoners comes to rape and likely kill her.]]²* HeroicBSOD: When [[spoiler:her father dies.]]²* HoneyTrap: In season 4 she has to use her looks a lot to manipulate men in various schemes.²* HospitalHottie: She's pretty attractive, and a licensed doctor. Being in a prison, this almost gets her raped during a major riot.²* IHaveYourWife: She holds [[spoiler:Lisa Tabak]] hostage to coerce the General.²* TheLostLenore: It's strongly implied that [[spoiler:Michael]] has become this to her.²* MafiaPrincess: Sort of; she's the daughter of the governor, but she's the complete opposite than what one would expect from that.²* TheMedic: A trained and once certified doctor, Sara frequently patches up Michael and other characters.²* NiceGirl: Is generally kind and friendly to everyone she meets.²* NotQuiteDead: Apparently KilledOffForReal in season three, only to return in the fourth season with a HandWave that her death was faked.²* RavenHairIvorySkin: Has dark hair and pale skin -- irresistible to Michael, who is said to love brunettes.²* SpellMyNameWithAnS: It's common debate between fans if her name's spelled "Sara" or "Sarah", despite it already been confirmed as the former rather than the latter.²* SpoiledSweet: Has some aspects of this.²* StarCrossedLovers: As of the second season, with Michael. Due to him being on the run, there's not much time for Michael to drop by (it doesn't help that she's wanted too).²* TookALevelInBadass: Though she had shades of this in season one when she manages to defend herself while being holed up during the riot, she really breaks out in season two, managing to survive while on the run from everyone trying to kill her, including freeing herself from Kellerman's attempting drowning, attacking him with an iron, and jumping out of a window onto a car before later stitching her own wounds in a public bathroom. In the season two finale she even [[spoiler:kills Agent Kim while he has the brothers at gunpoint.]]²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Kellerman]]²!!Paul Kellerman²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PaulKellerman_5594.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am going to do something, I have to do something, that a lot of people are going to think is horrible."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Paul Adelstein²²->''"Certain number of bodies you can sweep under the rug. President's rug is getting so full you can barely stand on it."''²²A Secret Service agent acting as the brutal right hand of Vice President Reynolds. Their friendship begins to fade as she climbs the political ladder, leading him to become increasingly conflicted.²----²* AbusiveParents: His father and mother.²* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He had a crush on Caroline, but she only had eyes for [[spoiler:her brother.]]²* AloofBigBrother: He was a KnightTemplarBigBrother until he turned 18, when he left his house and never went back for his sister. He hasn't seen her for years since then.²* AxCrazy: Initially he had a propensity for flying off the handle in extremely violent ways, but he got better, somewhat.²* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:After he's assumed to be killed off at the end of season two, he reappears in the finale.]]²* BadassInANiceSuit: He's always impeccably dressed while in the field, which doesn't hinder his strength.²* BodyguardCrush: On his ChildhoodFriend, the Vice-President of the US, Caroline Reynolds. She doesn't reciprocate, since [[spoiler:she's carrying on an incestuous relationship with her brother Terrence Steadman.]] Terrence openly laughs at Kellerman over how Caroline doesn't care for him at all but he refuses to believe it. However, when Caroline cuts him off in season 2, it drives Kellerman to join the brothers.²* BondVillainStupidity: Despite having a million faster and easier ways of killing Sara, he leaves her alone to drown in a bathtub and steps away to get ready to cut her body into pieces, giving her plenty of time to pull the bath's plug and escape.²* ColdBloodedTorture: Does this to [[spoiler: Sara]] early in season 2.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* TheDragon: For Reynolds, at first.²* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Tries to kill himself near the end of season two, but his gun jams. His sister convinces him that it's a sign, and sure enough, he has a change of heart and testifies on Sara's behalf, exonerating her.]]²* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Since the season two finale.]]²* GoOutWithASmile: "In the French resistance it was considered a high honor to face a Nazi firing squad... meant you did your job. The highest honor was to smile when they shot you."²* HeelFaceTurn: After betraying the company.²* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Danny Hale. Until [[spoiler: he kills him, at least.]]²* HumiliationConga: But he gets better.²* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: Attempts to kill himself in the second season, but the gun jams.]]²* ManipulativeBastard²* TheMenInBlack²* MoralityPet: His sister, despite not having seen her in years.²* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Season 4 reveals he's still alive all along.]]²* PetTheDog: He makes amends with [[spoiler: Sara]] by testifying in her defence to save her from hard time. [[spoiler: He does so knowing he'll get arrested for attempting to murder her and will likely be killed by the Company to shut him up]].²* SecretIdentity: As Owen, a salesman, as LJ finds out [[MistakenForMurderer the hard way]].²* SharpDressedMan: Usually seen in a nice suit.²* SmugSnake: Like his superior Kim, he always has a SmugSmile on his face.²* TookALevelInKindness: In season 2.²* TortureTechnician: Brings out of a variety of tools and methods to torture Sara with after capturing her.²* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: For Caroline Reynolds, according to Terrance.²* {{Unperson}}: By Bill Kim's doing.²* WildCard: In season 2, he double-crosses Mahone and saves the brothers instead of killing them as planned and works with them to take revenge on Caroline. After Sara leaves him behind in revenge, he goes off on his own and nearly ruins the mission to get Caroline to pardon the brothers by assassinating her, but the plan falls through. [[spoiler:After failing to commit suicide, he testifies on Sara's behalf, exonerating her and Lincoln.]]²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Mahone]]²!!Alexander "Alex" Mahone²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AlexanderMahone_3390.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"I don't want either of you. I JUST WANT MY LIFE BACK!"'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/WilliamFichtner²²->''"There's one big difference between you and I, Michael. You just proved it. You can't kill. And that's what it's going to take to stop me because I don't have the same reservations. I can't. So whether it's today in Gila, or tomorrow in Albuquerque, or two months from now in Panama... I will get you. I don't have a choice."''²²A troubled FBI agent tasked with tracking down the Fox River Eight. He's secretly being blackmailed by the Company to kill the Fox River Eight, and is constantly looking for a way out.²----²* AddictionDisplacement: He replaces his medication with heroin in Sona, due to them being the next best thing. After a failed trial, he tries to quit and replaces his addiction by staring at a picture of his son provided by Lang every time he feels like he's losing it.²* AmicablyDivorced: With Pam in the series finale.²* AntiVillain²** AntiHero: After his HeelFaceTurn.²* ArchEnemy: To Michael before his {{Heel Face Turn}}.²* TheAtoner: Spends season four working to atone from all the deaths and pain he caused from working with the Company, pairing up with Whistler to take it down.²%%* BadassInANiceSuit²* BadCopIncompetentCop: Downplayed. He is by no means incompetent, and he is only a bad cop in the second season because the Company forces him to be so.²* BerserkButton: Any insults or threats regarding Pam or his son Cameron will not be well received. [[spoiler: Wyatt actually killing Cameron triggered something even worse.]]²%%* BestServedCold²* BreakOutCharacter: Became wildly popular after his appearance in season two.²* BunnyEarsLawyer: While he was still an agent.²%%* ByronicHero²* ColdBloodedTorture: Does this to Wyatt in the fourth season, proving to be a quite skilled TortureTechnician, [[spoiler: before he eventually kills him.]]²* CombatPragmatist: In Sona, he tells Michael this is the only way for him to survive.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* DefectiveDetective: One of the smartest and savviest agents ever, but is divorced and veers into mental and emotional instability due to the pressures of working for the company and his abuse of medication.²* DirtyCop: He is forced by the company to become this, after his stress snaps and he kills Shales, the monster he had been hunting for years.²* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:After unwillingly working as an attack dog of the Company, being separated from his family, being a prisoner in Sona suffering from SanitySlippage, and losing his beloved son who he spent years working to reunite with, he is eventually set free and pursues a relationship with Lang, who loves him.]]²* FairCop: He's quite handsome and has his fair share of admiring fans.²* FunctionalAddict: In Season Two. Not so much when he's trapped in Sona during Season Three and turns to heroin.²* GeniusBruiser: While his major attribute is being [[TheChessmaster extremely intelligent]], he's actually one of the, if not ''the'' best fighters in the series. He bests even BigGuy Lincoln and can effortlessly plow through entire squads of {{mook}}s if necessary. If it wasn't for his psychological issues and {{woobie}} status he'd be the biggest badass in the series by far.²* GoingColdTurkey: In Season 3, he's forced off his meds when he's thrown in Sona.²%%* HannibalLecture²* HeelFaceTurn: Eventually, when the Company loses interest in him on the third season, he begins to change for the better.²* HeterosexualLifePartners: to a lesser extend than most cases, but still counts, with Lincoln.²* InSeriesNickname: He's called Alex so much by practically every character in the series (those who don't just call him Mahone, of course), one tends to forget his real name is actually Alexander.²* KarmaHoudini: Sure, he turns out into a nice guy after his HeelFaceTurn, but he also got away with [[spoiler: killing Tweener and Aldo Burrows,]] although he's [[TheAtoner atoning for that]] and did lose his beloved son.²%%* KnightInSourArmour²* TheLancer: Becomes this to Michael in Sona.²* LastNameBasis: Rarely called by his first name.²* PapaWolf: Shoots and kills the man who injures his son. Not to mention what he does to [[spoiler: [[TortureAlwaysWorks the guy who actually kills his son]].]] ²* RelationshipUpgrade: With Agent Lang.²* RoomFullOfCrazy: His evidence board as he tries to figure out Michael's next step, eventually getting deranged as he starts to see clues on every centimeter of Michael.²* SanitySlippage: Starts losing his grip as he continuously fails to capture and kill the brothers. It gets worse when he's thrown in Sona and is forced off his meds, and even starts to see visions of Haywire taunting him. He gets better.²* ShutUpHannibal: To [[KilledMidSentence Wyatt]].²* TheSmartGuy: He's one of the few characters who can [[WorthyOpponent keep up with Michael]] and sees patterns where no one else at the [=FBI=] can.²%%* TortureTechnician²* WildCard: In season 3, before alligning himself to Whistler.²* WorthyOpponent: To Michael, who usually outfoxes ''everyone,'' and is the only one who truly concerns him. Michael actually uses this to his advantage after he and Mahone become allies to outfox [[spoiler: Christina Rose Scofield, who herself could outfox Michael, but didn't know Mahone, therefore having no idea how to outfox him.]]²* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: He hunts down Wyatt who killed his son, and later tortures and kills him.]]²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Whistler]]²!!James Whistler²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JamesWhistler_9541.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Prior to this experience, I had the utmost respect for the law."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Chris Vance²²->''"I assume we're doing more than just playing electrician?"''²²A 'fisherman' imprisoned in SONA. The Company wants him freed and alive for unknown purposes, so Gretchen forces the brothers to do the work for her.²----²* AbortedArc: The writer's strike seemed to essentially gut whatever his story was going to be, and it was quickly re-worked into the Scylla arc.²* AffablyEvil: A charismatic, witty prisoner [[spoiler:who's also working for the Company.]]²* AmbiguousAllegiance: All through season 3, the audience is left wondering which side does he really play for. It's finally resolved in the season finale; [[spoiler:he works for the Company.]]²* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Though he starts off working for the Company and nearly gets everyone killed in order to escape, he's secretly working to take down the Company. It didn't last long before the plot DroppedABridgeOnHim.]]²* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Shot in the back of the head by Wyatt.]]²* ButtMonkey: Since he's neither a genius nor physically imposing, he's usually dependent on the other breakout team members.²* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler:Effortlessly lies to the group with the insistence that he's not working for the Company, and tricks them into thinking he has a torn ankle in order to escape to Gretchen.]]²* CrazyPrepared: Just look at his [[MacGuffin bird book]]!²%%* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass²* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Killed off rather abruptly by Wyatt in the fourth season premiere.]] See AbortedArc above.²* EnigmaticMinion: His agenda is unknown for most of season three. [[spoiler:At the end, it's revealed he really does work for the Company, but the book he needed was actually a means to steal Scylla and take down the Company.]]²%%* GreyAndGrayMorality²* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:Killed by Wyatt while trying to convince Michael to steal Scylla.]]²* LivingMacGuffin: Finding him means an instant trial for anyone in SONA, so he's quite sought-after. Michael was put in SONA specifically to break him out and he's the key to Sara and LJ's freedom. Finding him was the hard part.²* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He's shot in the back of the head by Wyatt after escaping SONA in order to establish just how important Scylla is.]]²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Lechero]]²!!Norman "Lechero" St John ²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NormanStJohn_9766.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Without rules we are nothing but savages."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Robert Wisdom²²->''"I'd be glad to see you go down, Superstar."''²²The hot-tempered 'king' of SONA who sees Michael as a threat.²----²* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Fun as he might have been, he certainly deserved to die.]]²* BadBoss: Leaves the other prisoners to languish in the sun with little food and water while he schmoozes in his private cell and sleeps with his own personal call girl. It comes back to bite him when the prisoners begin to grow restless.²* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Of SONA.²* BaldOfEvil: A bald BadBoss.²* BeardOfEvil: This prison leader has a goatee.²* EnemyMine: With Michael, Mahone and Whistler.²* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: When he was a child, he got his StartOfDarkness by killing his mother's rapist.²* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Just look at his expression when he realizes T-Bag is going to kill him.]]²* HairTriggerTemper: Lechero flies into rages at a moment's notice, contributing to his status as ScaryBlackMan.²%%* HotBlooded²* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He chooses [[TheStarscream T-Bag]] as a right-hand man. [[spoiler:He ultimately dies by T-Bag's hands.]]²* {{Jerkass}}: Frames Michael in order to set up a fight between him and a violent, dangerous prisoner, just because he's jealous of Michael's stardom and wants him dead.²* LargeHam: Lechero shouts, rages, over-enunciates and is given to grandiose speeches.²* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Has T-Bag [[VorpalPillow smother him]] after he's mortally wounded.]]²* SanitySlippage: After his mother's murder.²* ScaryBlackMan: He became the king of Sona basically by being the most terrifying motherfucker in a terrifying prison.²* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:T-Bag mercy kills him only after manipulating him into giving away the location of his money.]]²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Gretchen]]²!!Gretchen Morgan AKA Susan B. Anthony²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GretchenMorgan_5761.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"You push anything into a corner too far and the claws will come out."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Jodi Lyn O'Keefe²²->''"I'm just a soldier in this war, Lincoln, just like you."''²²A ruthless company agent blackmailing Lincoln and Michael to break James Whistler out of SONA. After numerous failures, the Company tries to have her killed only for her to escape and begin working against them.²----²* AffablyEvil: She's as charismatic as she is antagonistic.²* AloofBigSister: Sometimes seems to be this towards her sister Rita.²* AloofDarkHairedGirl: A stoic and cold brunette.²* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In Season 4, when Wyatt is torturing her and not getting anywhere, he changes tactics and says he's going to expose her to smells (severed eyeballs, urine, rotting meat) that humans have been programmed by evolution to react badly to, resulting in panic, loss of control, anxiety, etc. He then leaves a bucket full of said items next to her, and leaves the room. The problem is, just like in visiting the elephant pen at the zoo and after awhile you just don't notice the stench, after about five minutes her olfactory nerve would have become desensitized and she just wouldn't smell the items anymore either. They try to avert it by having another guard come in after awhile and say he's going to "freshen up the urine", but it wouldn't work as he's just adding to an odor she already doesn't notice anymore. ²%%* AxCrazy²* BadassInDistress: At the beginning on season 4, while the company has her captive.²* BiTheWay: The way she leans on towards Sofia while commenting on how beautiful she was leaves little to the imagination. Also, when [[spoiler: she's in prison,]] she seduces a female guard in exchange for a favor.²* BoyishShortHair: In the movie.²%%* BrokenBird²%%* CatholicSchoolgirlsRule²* CreepyBlueEyes: Her blue eyes are quite distinctive. She's also a borderline sociopath.²* ColdBloodedTorture: Does this to Sara through the third season. [[LaserGuidedKarma In return]], Wyatt tortures her in early season 4.²%%* DeadpanSnarker²* DepravedBisexual: If her behaviour around Sofia and Sara is anything to go by...²* DarkActionGirl: A capable and dangerous fighter.²* DeadpanSnarker: Emphasis on deadpan.²* FemmeFatale: Her introduction is heavy on this and full of flirtation with Lincoln, but he doesn't bite.²* HeelFaceTurn: Sort of; she doesn't work for the company anymore, but she's not liked with the good guys either. So, she sort of just [[WildCard works for herself]]. Still, you have to admit she did some changing in the movie when [[spoiler: she allows Sara to leave without her, turning herself in so that Sara isn't caught.]]²%%* HumiliationConga²* IcyBlueEyes: Which give her a cold, eerie expression.²%%* JokerImmunity²* LaserGuidedKarma: She tortures Sara in season 3 and gets tortured herself in season 4.²%%* MamaBear²* MayDecemberRomance: With the General (a man of 63), although 'romance' is perhaps not the best word. Their relationship is quite twisted; the General orders Gretchen to be tortured to death without any qualms, despite the two of them having been lovers previously and the fact that he has fathered her daughter. He still desires her, and temporarily compels her to rejoin him.²* MoralityPet: Her daughter and sister.²* MsFanservice: Season 4 has her dress up in a naughty school girl outfit as means to seduce the General. ²* PsychoForHire: She enjoys her job as an interrogator and occasional killer. To the point that Lincoln actually compares her to a mercenary.²* SecretIdentity: We learn her real name from Whistler halfway through season 3.²* SmugSnake: Smugly lords over the brothers that she has their loved ones and isn't afraid to hurt them, and when the exchange of prisoners takes place, she smirks when making it clear that they'll be killed the moment they step out. This comes back to bite her when she's outwitted numerous times by Michael.²* TheStoic: Has little emotion as she discusses a kidnapped LJ and is only slightly upset when [[spoiler:revealing she beheaded Sara, though that last one might have to do with the fact that Gretchen actually faked beheading Sara.]]²* TortureTechnician: Knows plenty about it, as evidenced by knowing exactly where to paralyze LJ if need be.²%%* WildCard²* WouldHurtAChild: Fully prepared to injure and kill LJ to get back at Lincoln.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Sofia]]²!!Sofia Lugo²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SofiaLugo_9763.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"This is why my friends don't visit Panama. You cops bother everyone!"'']]²->'''Played By:''' Danay Garcia²²The innocent and devoted girlfriend of James Whistler who slowly finds out the truth behind his deception.²----²* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Her attraction to both Whistler and Lincoln.²* BackForTheFinale: [[TheBusCameBack Returns after being]] PutOnABus.²* TheChick: Not useful in strength like Lincoln or genius-level brains like Michael, but helps both out anyway.²* DemotedToExtra: In the fourth season after Lincoln is arrested again.²* DistractedByTheSexy: She distracts a Sona guard [[ShowSomeLeg by unbuttoning her shirt]].²* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Or at least [[DepravedBisexual Gretchen]] seems to...²* GratuitousSpanish: Frequently flies into sometimes-untranslated Spanish.²* TheHeart: A good person whose motivation stems purely from love.²* TheIngenue: Whistler wants to keep her as innocent as possible.²* MeetCute: With Lincoln. He threatens her with a gun and steals Whistler's bird book from her. ²* MsFanservice: In one episode, the camera lingers on her as she takes her shirt off and zooms in on her breasts.²* NiceGirl: Just wants to get her boyfriend free.²* PutOnABus: The plot moves her aside so that Lincoln can focus on working on the plot.²* ShesGotLegs: Sports a nice pair of gams that don't go unnoticed.²* SpicyLatina: Has no problem standing outside Sona demanding for her (alleged) husband's body to be returned, or pulling a knife on Lincoln to get Whistler's book back.²[[/folder]]²²[[folder:Self]]²!!Donald "Don" Self²[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DonSelf_5319.jpg]]²[[caption-width-right:350:''"Don’t mistake my patience for weakness."'']]²->'''Played By:''' Creator/MichaelRapaport²²-->''"You’re a whore, and your mother was a whore, and her mother, and your father used to turn tricks at a gas station, ‘cause he was a whore, too."''²²A Homeland Security agent, Self puts together the 'Scylla' team in an attempt to bring down the Company.²----²* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: [[spoiler:Flush with the success of his previous manipulations, Self grows confident to an idiotic point. He refuses to listen to good advice, allows his greed to result in botching lucrative deals and ultimately loses everything due to his own arrogance and certainty.]] ²* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler:He was this before his wife's accident.]]²* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:To the Scylla group. He doesn't care about bringing down the Company, he just wants to steal from them and make money off selling the Scylla card. He then operates as the resident BigBad for a few episodes before the Company catches up with him.]]²* BrooklynRage: He retains Michael Rapaport's heavy accent.²* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:He betrays Michael and the team, Trishanne/Miriam Hultz, Vikan the buyer for Scylla, the Representative... he just can't stop. He loves betraying people.]]²* DeadpanSnarker: [[spoiler:Has some shades of it, but becomes much more sarcastic after the reveal that he was EvilAllAlong.]]²* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Even when critically wounded, he still taunts the FBI agents that question him.]]²* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:He loves his wife dearly, and seems to be [[spoiler:committing such evil acts partly so he can better provide for her.]]²* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:It's revealed that from the very beginning he was using the Scylla team and constantly lying to them.]]²* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler:Self thinks that having the Scylla card will make him top dog and rich, but the Company quickly turns things around on him.]]²* EvilRedhead: [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he was EvilAllAlong.]]²* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:To his superior; after the FaceHeelTurn, he calls him and pretends to be killed by Lincoln.]]²* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Self winds up pretty much in a vegetative state.]] ²%%* FieryRedhead²%%* HotBlooded²* IHaveYourWife: He holds Gretchen's family hostage so that she gets him another buyer for Scylla. [[LaserGuidedKarma In return]], the General holds his wife hostage.²* LaserGuidedKarma: His alcoholism resulted in his wife ending up in a vegetative state, and his greedy manipulations eventually get her killed. Self ultimately winds up in a mute, vegetative state himself.²* ManipulativeBastard: Big time. He successfully manipulates the entire Scylla team and numerous Homeland Security co-workers.²* SmugSnake: Self gradually becomes more smug and self-assured after TheReveal that he was EvilAllAlong, but the General is still far out of his league.²* WildCard: In the second half of season 4, his allegiance can shift constantly depending on who's giving him a better offer.²* WouldHurtAChild: Self is happy to hold Gretchen's daughter hostage to force her into helping him.²[[/folder]]²----

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